Sir Richard Burton: A Biography
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Good
Markings: Fair - Bumping on spine and corners. Rubbed edges.
This richly detailed biography chronicles the extraordinary life of Sir Richard Francis Burton, the Victorian-era explorer, linguist, and provocateur whose insatiable curiosity led him to disguise himself as a Muslim pilgrim to enter the forbidden city of Mecca and to co-lead the landmark expedition in search of the source of the Nile. Michael Hastings presents a vivid portrait of a man who was as controversial as he was brilliant, fluent in dozens of languages and equally at home in the drawing rooms of London as in the most remote corners of Africa, Arabia, and South Asia. The biography uncovers the tensions between Burton's fierce intellectual independence and the rigid social conventions of Victorian Britain, illustrating how his unorthodox views on religion, sexuality, and empire made him a celebrated outsider in his own time. Written with narrative drive and scholarly depth, the work captures both the grandeur and the contradictions of a man who translated The Kama Sutra and One Thousand and One Nights for Western audiences while simultaneously serving as a British consul and soldier. The result is a compelling account of one of the nineteenth century's most restless and remarkable minds.
Author: Michael Hastings
Format: Hardback
Published: 1978, Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc.
Genre: Biography
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Good
Markings: Fair - Bumping on spine and corners. Rubbed edges.
This richly detailed biography chronicles the extraordinary life of Sir Richard Francis Burton, the Victorian-era explorer, linguist, and provocateur whose insatiable curiosity led him to disguise himself as a Muslim pilgrim to enter the forbidden city of Mecca and to co-lead the landmark expedition in search of the source of the Nile. Michael Hastings presents a vivid portrait of a man who was as controversial as he was brilliant, fluent in dozens of languages and equally at home in the drawing rooms of London as in the most remote corners of Africa, Arabia, and South Asia. The biography uncovers the tensions between Burton's fierce intellectual independence and the rigid social conventions of Victorian Britain, illustrating how his unorthodox views on religion, sexuality, and empire made him a celebrated outsider in his own time. Written with narrative drive and scholarly depth, the work captures both the grandeur and the contradictions of a man who translated The Kama Sutra and One Thousand and One Nights for Western audiences while simultaneously serving as a British consul and soldier. The result is a compelling account of one of the nineteenth century's most restless and remarkable minds.